Love's Notebook
by Dot-Sensei
Summary: Ever since Ryo saw Marik, one of the most popular kids in school, he had loved him. He always wrote his love for him in a special notebook he had. But what will happen when the notebook falls into the hands of his love interest himself? ANGST SHIPPING
1. Chapter 1

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter One **

**Ryo's Notebook **

Ryo sat at his desk, alone and writing as usual. It was lunch hour, but Ryo just typically sat in the room of his next class, did homework, and write in his notebook.

His notebook was his dirty little secret. Did he write how he planned to slaughter everyone in school? Did he keep track of how many women he got pregnant? Did he -heaven forbid- actually balance his check books?

Well, no.

Ok, maybe he does balance his check books, but that's not the point. In his notebook, he wrote his love for Marik Ishtar.

The problem? Marik Ishtar was the most popular guy in school. Not only was he way out of Ryo's league, he also would make high school hell for him if he found out that Ryo was gay for him.

After scribbling another heart that said "ML + RB" in it, Ryo scribbled down today's thoughts of the young, tan lad.

October 4th

I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise, Journal. I just couldn't stop staring at him in Gym class. He wore his usual tight, black tank top that seemed to be the gym uniform for males amongst his group. I just can't help that it seems to caress every muscle on his chest, I just can't.

Even though it's weeks away, many are already talking about this year's Halloween festival and dance. Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get the guts to ask him ou-

His writing was disturbed when he heard the door to the classroom creak open.

"Bakura?" he heard a somewhat high-pitched voice say.

Looking over, Bakura saw it that it was his friend, Yugi Muto. Along side the small 10th grader was... Marik Ishtar himself!

Ryo panicked, closing his notebook shut right away.

"Oh, um, hello, Yugi. Hello, Marik," he greeted, trying to look as calm as possible.

While Marik just nodded, Yugi seemed excited to see him. "Bakura, I'm so glad I found you!' he exclaimed.

"Hm? Why?" Ryo asked, turning his head in confusion.

"I can't find Joey, Tristan, or Tea anywhere!" the short tenth grader exclaimed in a whiny tone. He grabbed Ryo's hands and looked up at him with big, puppy dog eyes. "Will you please help me find them?"

Bakura, not thinking, quickly said, "Yes, I don't see why I shouldn't."

Yugi joyfully yanked Bakura from his seat and dragged him out of the classroom. Ryo, smiling, laughing, and telling Yugi and calm down, forgot that his notebook was left alone with Marik.

Marik smiled as the two left, then looked back into the classroom, noticing Ryo's light blue notebook on his desk.

"Oh my, seems he forgot this," Marik muttered to himself as he picked the notebook up. "I guess I'll go see if I can catch up to them and hand it back."

That's what Marik was going to do, but then, he accidentally dropped the notebook onto the floor.

"Gah! Dammit!" he exclaimed under his breath as he clumsily picked the notebook up. "Damn me and my butterfingers."

Then, all of a sudden, he noticed something flash by him on one of the pages. "Hm?" he mumbled. "I swore I just saw my name in his notebook."

As wrong as Marik thought it was to pry into someone else's privacy, he just had to make sure what he saw was true.

He slowly opened the notebook and scanned the pages. It was full of little hearts with his name in it, his name and Ryo's name, or just their initials. It had notes of Ryo observing him. And also documents of him balancing his check books, which Marik had to admit, he was pretty good at.

He felt his cheeks get a little hot. "Oh my," he mumbled to himself, "Does Ryo... Does Ryo love me?"

He glanced around before putting the notebook in his school jacket. Maybe it's best if I talk to him about this later, when I get the chance, he thought to himself, before walking out of the classroom, acting like nothing had happened.

Yugi and Bakura were dragged into the principal's office by an annoyed vice principal and plopped down into two chairs in front of the principal himself.

"Well well well," he spoke, glaring at the two. "I have to say I'm highly disappointed in you two.

Neither of the two boys uttered a word. Yugi was looking down at the floor in shame while Ryo tried his best to not look flustered. Neither of them were used to getting into trouble.

"You two, some of my finest students, doing something like this. School rules say you can go off school grounds during lunch hour, but have to be back before next hour. Do you two know how late you are?" he questioned in a harsh voice.

"We're sorry, Sir," Ryo suddenly said, his face turning pink. "We didn't know how long we were out."

The principal looked at his assistant, who nodded at him. The principal then propped up his arms, intertwined his fingers, and rested his chin on his fingers. "Well," he sighed, "since you two never get into trouble, I guess I can let you off lightly."

"R-Really?" exclaimed Yugi, his eyes brightening.

"Yes, you two just have to clean a couple classrooms." the principal explained, nodding.

His attention then turned to his assistant. "Joseph, go write these two boys passes." The vice principal nodded and walked off.

"All right, you two are free to go." he said happily, making a "shoo-shoo" motion with his hand. The boys stood up, bowed their heads in respect, and walked out.

After grabbing their passes, Yugi and Ryo decided to walk together down to Ryo's class, since Yugi's class was just down the hall from Ryo's.

"I'll see you later," whispers Yugi, before quickly walking off to his next class. Ryo smiled and waved goodbye, before entering his class.

As usual, nobody seemed to notice him. He walked up, handed the pass to his teacher, and went back to his seat.

As he thought, all of his stuff was still there, and someone was even nice enough to put his materials for this class on his desk.

He sighed, sat down at his desk, and started to work.

As the bell rung for the end of class, Ryo packed up his stuff.

As he left the classroom, he felt odd. It felt like something was missing.

He glanced down and noticed that his notebook, which he normally hugged close to his chest, was gone.

He started to panic. Just relax, Bakura, he thought to himself.

In his panic, he unknowingly bumped into Yugi and Tea.

"Oh?" Ryo mumbled, looking down. "Ah, Yugi! I'm sorry!" he quickly apologized, "I'm not really thinking straight at the moment."

"It's all right, Bakura, no worries," Yugi comforted.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Tea asked, her eyes full of worry.

"No," Ryo reassured her, "everything's fine, just lost something important."

Before either of the two could say any more, Ryo walked off quickly without saying another word.

As he stopped at his locker, he realized something. The last person by his notebook was...was...Marik!

"Oh no," Ryo whispered to himself, "Oh no, oh no, oh freaking' no."

He sighed and started to put in his locker's combination. All he could do now was go to his next class and hope that it wasn't Marik that had found his notebook and taken it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Two**

**Confrontations and Candy Kisses**

Ryo shifted nervously in his seat. It had been about two and a half weeks since he had last seen his notebook.

"Oh God," he mumbled to himself, "it has to be in someone else's hands by now."

He started to get a cold sweat from the ideas of whoever took it. What if Tea secretly took it and would announce his love for Marik over the P.A, or worse, at the dance? What if one of Marik's many fans around the school found it? He'd surely be dead then. What if Marik himself found it? He could make his high school life hell or try to use this to blackmail him into degrading work!

Ryo's heart was nearly pounding out of his chest and he sighed with a quivering breath. He just had to hoped it was safe somewhere, and that if someone found it, that they didn't read it or didn't care.

As Ryo got out of his last hour class, he happened to pass by class C-21. He felt someone grab his shoulder. He tensed up immediately. Oh god, what if this person had the notebook? he thought to himself.

Turning around, he saw that it was just Joey.

"Hey Bakura buddy!" he greeted with a big, warm grin.

"Oh, um, hello Joey," Bakura greeted back, bowing his head a little.

"Hey Bakura, I got a favor to ask of ya. Do you mind if you take up cleaning the gym for me today?" he asked.

Ryo was caught back in his own thinking for a moment, but snapped back to reality and mindlessly answered, "Oh, sure. I don't see why not."

"Thanks, you're a real life saver, Bakura!" Joey exclaimed, embracing Ryo in a big, manly hug of gratitude.

As Joey ran off and Ryo started to head for the gym, Joey yelled back, "There's a note telling you what to do!"

"Alright!" Ryo yelled back. He sighed and walked faster. At least now he had something to get his mind off his lost notebook.

Marik sighed and sat on the locker room bench as he waited for the shower's water to heat up. He had a party to go too soon, and he wasn't going to go smelling like sweat, so he decided to take a shower at school.

"Dammit," he mumbled to himself, tapping his fingers impatiently, "the water here takes forever to heat up." Marik was always like that. He had to have everything just right.

He sighed and then glanced down to his backpack. That's when he remembered it. Ryo's notebook.

"Oh, right, that," he mumbled to himself, blushing. He couldn't believe that Ryo was that deeply in love with him. "I've never really dated anyone, my family always was up-tight about it. Maybe just this once..."

He stood up and slammed his fist against a locker. "Gah! I'm such a bad person!" he yelled, "He's probably thinking someone has it and is going to reveal this. Maybe I should just give it back and act like I never read it."

He went to the showers, felt the water, and decided it was good enough. Stepping back and undressing, he couldn't help but think of what he had done.

Ryo walked down the ramp leading into the gym. There was equipment in the corner on the opposite side of the room. He walked over tot he corner, ignoring a purple sweatshirt that was laying on the bleachers. Just as Joey said there would be, there was a little yellow note stuck to the bleachers near them.

"Sweep floors, wash bleachers, and scrub walls," Ryo listed off from the note. "Sounds easy enough."

That's what he thought. He grabbed the broom and turned around, realizing that the gym was huge. "Well, its not like the floor will be too dirty, since some of the girls scrub the floor a lot," he tried to reassure himself as he grabbed a dust pan.

After about 15 minutes of showering, Marik stepped out of the shower and dried himself off.

As he got dressed, he realized he forgot to pack a shirt, and that his sweatshirt was sitting on the bleachers outside.

"Dammit," he mumbled to himself as he walked out of the locker room, ignoring that his hair was soaking wet and tracking water.

Ryo sighed as he finally finished sweeping the entire gym floor and headed back for his next task. His arms were sore and it felt like a burden to even carry the broom. He ignored the sound of footsteps and the sound of clothing rustling as he put the broom back in the corner.

He glanced down. There were water droplets all over the floor. For some reason, this ticked Ryo off. He didn't want to have to clean any more than he had to.

Looking up, he saw a figure with blond-ish colored hair walking off. He ran after the figure in a rage.

"You," Ryo growled as he grabbed the figure by the shoulders. He turned the figure around and started to shake it in a violent rage. "You! You're tracking water all over my perfectly clean floor! Do you realize how long this will take me to clean up?"

"Uh, Bakura?" he heard the figure say.

Ryo opened his eyes. It was Marik!

The tan young man got annoyed with being suddenly grabbed. "What the hell was that for, you freak?"

They both realized that anime rules said that this was a cheesy homoerotic romance scene, so they stared blankly at each other.

Oh bugger! Bakura thought to himself. This is bad, what if he thinks I was going to attack him or molest him or something?

They both started to blush.

"Oh, Marik, it's you," Ryo said slowly.

"Yeah," Marik mumbled.

This was awkward. "So, um anyway," Ryo said, backing off, "I'll just let you be on your way now. Sorry to disturb you!"

"Wait, Ryo,"

"Huh? What is it, Marik?" Ryo asked, nervous and confused.

"I need to talk to you about something." Marik answered, sitting on the bleachers. "Come here, will you?"

Ryo was nervous, but complied. "Sure, um, what is it?"

"Ryo, I..."

"Yes, Marik?"

"Ryo, I took your notebook, and I read it," Marik finally spat out, nervous and blushing.

Ryo was close to tears. Marik himself actually knew. Not knowing what Marik was going to day, Ryo grabbed his arms and calmly said, "Marik, I understand if you hate me and want to make my life hell, I just want you to know that everything I wrote in that notebook is true."

Marik touched Ryo's hands and then yanked him close, too close for comfort. "I was going to say that you were twenty dollars off on balancing your check books," he mumbled as they kissed.

Bakura's heart rate sky-rocketed, he felt like he was going to faint. As their lips parted, he mumbled, "Marik..."

"I've never really dated anyone, but we could always give it a try, right?" Marik mumbled. Ryo nodded in agreement.

Ryo felt Marik's hand on his butt. "M-Marik? What are y-"

"Adding my number into your phone, moron." Marik defended, puling Ryo's phone out of his back pocket. ...Ok, maybe he did also want to grab Ryo's ass, but that's not the point.

After putting his number in, he gave the phone back, kissed Ryo on the cheek, and said, "Later, you."

"L-Later," Ryo mumbled as Marik walked away before returning to his work.

For the next few days, the two spent their nights talking to each other on their phones.

One night, they decided to discuss the upcoming Halloween dance.

"I don't know, are you going?" Ryo asked.

"Of course I'm going!" he answered, "I want you to come along, though. It'll feel weird without you there."

"Uh-huh, right. You just want to make out under the bleachers, don't you?"

Damn, he was caught. "No, of course not! We've only been dating for like a week!" he lied back in anger. "Come on, Ryo, just go with me. Please?"

"Fine, Marik," he submitted, sighing. "Look, I have to go to bed now. Love you."

"Love you too~" Marik said affectionately before Ryo hung up.

The night of the Halloween dance:

Ryo sighed as he looked around. He did what Marik told him, now where was he?

He sighed and adjusted the collar around his neck. He was embarrassed to be walking around dressed like a furry with cat ears, a tail, and wearing a tight leather pants and a collar. With how it looked, it looked more like something Joey would wear!

He felt someone grab his arm.

"Hi honey," Marik greeted affectionately, kissing Ryo's cheek. "Don't you look just adorable."

"Marik, not here, someone's going to see!" Ryo whined quietly, pushing him away. Nobody knew about their relationship, and Ryo didn't want a big scene to happen.

Suddenly, Marik grabbed Ryo's wrist. "Come on," he said, "I have something we could do."

They walked down to the gym, which was nearly empty since the dance was being held in the cafeteria, and sat down on on the bleachers.

"What is it?" Ryo huffed, crossing his arms.

Marik pulled something out his jacket. He was dressed as a gangster, which annoyed Ryo.

He pulled out what looked like pumpkin-shaped candies.

"What are these? Ryo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Date rape drugs. What do they look like to you?" Marik answered, "They're fancy chocolates I made."

"What in the world are we gonna do with these, hm?" Ryo asked gruffly.

Marik yanked Ryo close. "Play a game, of course," he answered with a devilish smile.

"Marik, no," Ryo rejected, pushing Marik away.

"Oh come on, they taste good, I swear!" Marik whined.

"You probably put something in them," Ryo growled as he turned away.

Marik's mouth opened as such an accusation, but he sighed, and ate the candy himself.

"Well," Ryo said after a long silence, "We should probably be getting back."

Marik didn't say a thing.

"Marik?" Ryo asked, turning towards him. He was grabbed and pulled into a passionate kiss. Ryo was shocked. "Hmph?"

After this had gone on for about another minute, Ryo gave in.

Little did the young lovers know, there were a couple spies near by. Neither of them noticed the flash of a camera or quick footsteps.

They couldn't tell because they were both in Heaven.

And soon, they were going to regret being in Heaven.

**(Author's Notes)**

**See what I did thar? :3**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a happy Halloween!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Three**

**Keeping The Cat In The Bag**

Ryo sighed as he got out of bed. He wished that his time with Marik last night hadn't ended.

He sighed. Maybe today, he'd get a chance to do it again.

As he walked onto the school grounds, he was grabbed by the shoulder and dragged away from the gate.

"What the hell?" he yelled as he was dragged near a tree. It was Marik, his eyes big with shock, and he seemed to be sweating.

"Ryo!" he exclaimed, happy to see his love.

"Marik, what's going on?" Ryo asked, confused.

"The paper! It's in the paper!" Marik shouted, shaking Bakura wildly.

"What?" Ryo asked, still bamboozled.

"Someone took a picture of us and put it in the paper!"

Ryo stared blankly for a moment, before becoming just as paniced as Marik. "What?" he screamed. Marik shushed him, for he heard someone coming.

"Correction," they heard a cold voice say, "Someone took a picture of you two kissing and will put it in the school paper, unless you do as I say."

The young blond and the white-haired Brit turned. It was none other than Seto Kaiba!

"Kaiba, you're blackmailing us?" Marik asked in a serious tone, his eye lids lowering in anger.

"Well, Mokuba took the picture for me, but other than that, all my plan." he answered with a smirk.

Marik grabbed the brown-haired snob by the collar, growling at him with a lethal glare in his eye.

Ryo however, instead of joining in, grabbed his boyfriend by the shoulder and said, "Marik, let him go."

Kaiba grabbed Marik's hands and threw them off of his shoulder and walked away. His smirk grew dark and he said, "You should listen to your boyfriend for once, Ishtar."

Marik growled at the rich boy's back. "Damn it, Ryo, why did you let him go?"

Ryo defended with, "Marik, beating him to a bloody pulp won't solve anything.

"Yes it will! Haven't you watched Samurai Pizza Cats and every other superhero show known to man, bear, pig, and dolphin?"

Ryo sighed and walked off. He never knew that his boyfriend was secretly a somewhat childish person. Oh well, at least he had someone to play tabletop RPGs with.

Ryo stared at the lock on his locker as he put in his combination. What could Kaiba want him and Marik to do?

As he sighed and opened his locker, he saw a note taped to the door. It read:

_Meet me at the gymnasium after school. I'll release the photo to the paper if you come with Ishtar, got it?_

_ -S. Kaiba._

Ryo stared at the note. He was nervous, but he had to do it.

He grabbed his class materials and shut the locker door. Something told him this wasn't going to be good.

Ryo nervously walked down the ramp and into the gym. He couldn't stop his hands from shaking, so he stuffed them into his pockets.

"K-Kaiba?" he called out into the seemingly empty gym.

"Good, you came." Kaiba responded, appearing behind him.

Ryo freaked out, turned around, and tripped on his feet, landing on the hard wood floor.

"Ow," he whimpered in pain as he sat up and rubbed his shoulder. "Anyways, what is it, Kaiba?"

"What's what?"

"What the hell do you want me and Marik to do?" Ryo yelled, annoyed with his playing stupid act.

"No no no, it's what I want _you_ to do, Ryo Bakura," Kaiba corrected, his troubling smirk returning to his lips.

"What?" Ryo asked, confused and wide-eyed.

Seto kneeled down to Ryo and grabbed his chin with one hand. "Oh Ryo," he mumbled sweetly, "What I want you to do is be mine."

Ryo's face twisted with shock. "What?"

"You heard me," Kaiba said, "I've admired you for quite some time, and I can't stand the fact that a complete moron like Marik got his hands on you. I read your notebook, and I couldn't control myself. If you leave him for me, though, I'll destroy the picture and we'll act like it never happened."

Ryo stared into Seto's dark eyes for a moment, absorbing what he had said. he then slapped his hand away. "No, absolutely not." he growled, standing up.

As he was walking towards the exit of the gym, he heard Kaiba pull somethinhg out of his coat. "Here," he said.

Ryo turned around to see what it was. He was holding a copy of the school newspaper. On the front page, there was the title Popular Student Revealed To Be In Gay Relationship With Honor Student . Underneath the title, sandwiched by font, was a picture of Ryo and Marik making out on the bleachers at the Halloween festival.

"You can have it," Kaiba said, his voice sounding more and more like a mad man's, "It's what tomorrow's newspaper will look like. You know Domino High's rules, Bakura. They don't allow relationships, let alone gay relationships. You and Marik can kiss your time at this school good bye, maybe even your futures."

Ryo's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't imagine it. Kaiba was sinking as low as to ruin both his and Marik's lives all to be with him? He couldn't. He would never forgive himself if he hurt Marik.

He turned around and headed towards Seto. With his unemotional and blank look, he looked like he was going to strike the bastard, but he insted embraced him.

Ryo buried his face in Seto's shoulder. "I love you, Seto," he lied through his teeth.

Seto affentionately put his hand on Ryo's back and held him closer. "I knew you would come around, Ryo baby."

Ryo wondered. Was he really lying to Seto?

**(Author's Notes)**

**Talk about a twist, no? Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter and I also hope you stay tuned for the next chapter of Love's Notebook!**

**Also, if you're curious for any requests for a series, a one shot, etc from me, you can PM me with a request. :3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Four**

**Marik Won't Back Down**

Marik walked into the school grounds. He wasn't in the mood to be greeted by tons and tons of fangirls waiting to get into his pants or guys wanting to play touch football with him. He was in the mood to find his boyfriend, Ryo, and to hear about the situation with Seto.

He sighed, waving a small group of five fangirls off with a, "Hey, I have to go meet with a friend of mine, I'll talk to you girls later, all right?" They smiled and nodded, watching him as he walked away with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

He found Ryo sitting under the tree they were freaking out under yesterday. He looked nervous, like someone was out to get him, which Marik didn't take as a good sign.

He went up to Ryo and touched his shoulder, asking, "What's wrong?" His response was Ryo jumping and moving away from him, hyperventilating, until he saw it was just Marik.

"Oh, Marik," he stuttered, "It's just you."

"Ryo," Marik mumbled softly, hugging Ryo, "let's go find Seto."

"We don't have to." Ryo said, unemotional.

"What?"

"I met with him in the the gym and we...talked it out."

"Really?" Marik said happily, hugging his love, "So we don't have to worry?"

"Well, no, we don't." Ryo mumbled, pushing Marik away and standing up.

"Ryo, what's wrong?" Marik asked, concerned. Ryo never acted like this.

"Marik, I...I'm with Seto now."

"What?" Marik yelled, standing up and grabbing Ryo.

"Marik, please, I did this for your own good." Ryo tried to explain.

"No you didn't!" Marik yelled, close to tears. "You just wanted to get rid of me!"

"Marik, it's what he wanted me to do. He would have ruined both our lives if I didn't." Ryo explained, pushing Marik away and walking away.

Marik stared in shock. Someone he loved was taken away from him so soon. His knees shivered and twitched and he mumbled, "No, Ryo, please, not like this..."

Finally, his knees gave out. "Ryo, don't leave me!" he cried out softly, so that no one would hear it, tears flowing.

He sighed, getting up to head for class and wiping his tears away. The one ray of sunshine he had left was now gone, so how could it get worse?

It was now lunch hour. Marik sat in his next hour class, a habit that his now ex-lover used to do. It was the same class that Marik had found Ryo's notebook and found out about Ryo's crush on him.

Marik sighed. "You were the only thing that made me happy," he mumbled. "Why did you have to leave me?"

"Who?" said a childish-sounding voice. It was Yugi. "Who had to leave you? And why?"

"Oh, uh, no one, " Marik lied. It'd be best for nobody else to get involved in this horrible mess.

Yugi stilled looked concerned. Deep down, he knew that Marik was lying.

Not wanting to make a scene at school, he needed to find a way to speak to Marik in private.

"Oh, I just remembered," suddenly said Yugi, cutting the awkward, sad silence that was in the air, "Marik, I need your phone number."

Marik looked confused for a second, but then remembered that he and Yugi were partners for a project that probably requested outside work for Photography class.

"Oh yeah," Marik said, "Here, give me your phone,"

The two of them added their numbers to each other's contacts.

"Thank you," mumbled Yugi, leaving the unhappy-looking tan blond behind. At least now he knew he could try to help.

Marik sighed as he walked up the driveway to his home. It was a fairly large and beautiful home, but it was hell on the inside.

Inside was nothing out of the ordinary. His adopted older brother Rishid was laying on the couch. He changed his name to Odion a long time ago, though, and was thus called Odion, except when he was being yelled at by Ishizu.

"Odion, get your fat ass off the couch!" he heard his sister yell from the kitchen.

"I'm not fat, you are!" Odion countered from the couch.

Ishizu stepped out from the kitchen, glaring and her arms crossed over her chest. "Rishid, I oughta..."

Her rant of yelling at Odion was interrupted when she noticed Marik just standing there, looking hurt and confused.

"Oh, Marik," she said gently, going over and hugging her younger brother, "Is something troubling you?"

"Where's Ryo?" Odion asked. Marik had forgotten that he had promised to bring Ryo over soon to meet them. He didn't know that Ryo was now gone, off in the arms of another man.

Marik looked even more hurt. "Oh, um..."

Ishizu and Odion shared a glance before they both looked back at their younger brother. "Sit down, tell us what happened," said Odion, moving so there would be room for Marik and Ishizu on the couch.

The two sat down.

Marik's eyes watered. "Well, um..."

"Yes?" coaxed Ishizu, her eyes glittering with concern.

Marik's started to pour out. "Someone black mailed him into leaving me for him, or else they would release proof of our relationship in the school newspaper and get us both in serious trouble." he explained, shaking and trying not to break down.

He was drawn close to his sister. "Do not worry, Marik," she comforted, "I'm sure he'll find a way out of this.

Odion hugged Marik as well, "Yes, listen to your sister, Marik," he commented quietly.

Marik sighed and stood up, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Ishizu, could you put my phone on the charger? It's almost dead."

Ishizu nodded, and Marik went up to his room with his backpack in hand.

_Meanwhile, at the Muto household..._

Yugi quickly scribbled down the answer to a another math question.

"My, my," commented Atem, also known as Yami Yugi, "is there something important you need to get to?"

"Yes, Atem. Now shut it." Yugi snapped back.

Atem's eyes widened a bit. Yugi never usually spoke to him that way. He knew it was serious.

Later, while Odion was cooking dinner, Ishizu was relaxing on the couch. She could see why Odion constantly made it his bed.

Marik's cell phone rang. The ring tone confused Ishizu, for it wasn't one she had heard before.

"Is that the Ninja Pandas theme song I here?" asked Odion from the kitchen, excited.

"It's just someone calling Marik's cell, Odion. The T.V's not even on."

"Oh," Odion said in disappointment as Ishizu answered the phone with a calm, "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Marik?" Yugi answered.

"No, this is his sister, Ishizu." she answered.

"Oh. Well, can I talk to you about something?" he asked.

"Sure,"

"Is anything bad going in Marik's life right now?"

Ishizu bit her limp for a moment and then said in a worried tone, "Well, he said he had to break up with his boyfriend, Ryo Bakura, because someone was black mailing them. Do you know anything about it?"

Yugi tilted his head. "No," he said into the phone, "I didn't know they were dating."

"I see," she said, disappointed. "All right, hold on. I'm gonna go give the phone to Marik."

"Ok," said Yugi.

As he waited, Yugi turned to Atem, who was sitting with his legs crossed on his bed.

He said, "I have a very bad feeling about this, Yugi."

"Me too, Atem."

Yugi sighed. This was taking forever. "Atem, I'll be honest. I think Kaiba has some part in this."

Atem nodded in agreement. Yugi would sometimes tell Atem that he caught Seto Kaiba looking at Ryo in a lustful kind of way that made Yugi and Ryo nervous.

Finally, Yugi heard a sad-sounding, "Hello?" from the other line. It was Marik.

"Marik, what's going on?" Yugi asked in a demanding tone.

Marik's eyes widened. Had Ishizu told Yugi about him and Ryo? "Nothing," he answered nervously.

"Marik, I don't care if you dated another guy," Yugi comforted. "Who blackmailed you?"

Marik hung his head and quietly said, "Seto Kaiba," Tears began to flow again from his eyes. Just hearing his name made him upset and angry at the same time.

Atem snatched the phone from Yugi and said, "Marik,"

"Hm? Yes, Atem?" he asked, raising his head.

"Don't worry, we'll get Ryo back and get our revenge on Seto Kaiba, I promise."

Marik smiled. He said, "Okay," before hanging up the phone.

The next day, at school, Marik walked around with Yugi, Tea, Joey, Tristan, Atem, and Odion, looking for Kaiba.

He found him sitting on the base of the school statue, his hand around Ryo.

Marik scowled at the sight and walked up to them.

The group's shadows blocked the light. "Hm? What do you want, Ishtar?" growled Seto.

Marik got into Seto's face and growled back, "I'm going to get my revenge on you, Kaiba. I'm going to get my revenge for almost humiliating me and taking my Ryo away!"

Ryo looked surprised. Just the other day, Marik was hurt and sent to tears from the news. Now, he was his usual prideful self.

Seto looked at the group standing proud and tall, ready to face Seto. He knew what Marik had said wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

**(Author's Notes)**

**Yaaaaaay dramatic romance stories! Oh well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stayed tuned for the next one~**


	5. Chapter 5

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Five**

**Ryo's Promise**

Ryo walked nervously to the lunchroom. It had been about two days since his ex, Marik, approached Kaiba and promised revenge.

So far, neither side has done anything to the opponent other than just send lethal glares at every chance they could get. Sometimes Joey or Tristan would try to get physical, but Yugi would stop them.

Ryo sat down in his usual spot next to Seto. Seto's hand gripped his hip harshly.

"Ow," Ryo mumbled, trying to push away, "Don't grip me so hard."

In response, Seto growled and gripped him tighter. He was much more possessive now that he knew Marik was out for his love.

After lunch, Ryo and Seto parted ways. Seto said he had not been feeling well and was going to go lay down for a bit.

Ryo sighed as he wondered through the school's front grounds. He glanced over, and noticed a tree.

It wasn't any special or unique tree, but he remembered it with a bitter memory. The bitter memory of how he had shattered Marik's heart.

He went up to the tree and gingerly touched it, remembering Marik.

While they had only been together for about a week, Ryo still cared deeply for Marik. He remembered his notebook which was filled with how much he loved the blond. He also had a strange feeling that he had helped Marik very deeply by coming into his life. He remembered how Marik sounded upset in their old phone conversations, usually about family. He felt bad that he, possibly the only thing that made Marik happy, had left him so cruelly.

He closed his eyes and moved his fingers slowly across the tree's rough bark. He hoped that it would absorb his yearning to apologize to his old love and send it to him the next time he touched the tree.

Suddenly, he felt himself being grabbed and pulled behind the tree. He was going to scream, but his mouth was covered.

"Shh, it's just me," mumbled Marik.

"Marik!" Ryo whispered, "What the hell are you doing? If Seto sees you, he'll kill you!"

"I don't care about that," Marik growled, pinning Ryo to the tree. "Besides, I doubt he'll even be here now."

"W-Why do you say that?"

"I paid one of his cronies to slip something in his drink to make him ill." Marik answered with a sly grin.

Ryo looked at Marik in shock. He poisoned Seto? Did he really go as far as to poison his rival to get a chance with him?

Ryo glared at Marik before attempting to slap him. Marik blocked his slap and quickly pinned Ryo's arm to the tree.

"What the hell was that for?" he growled.

"You poisoned him! Also, how the hell did you bribe one of the cronies of Seto Kaiba, one of the richest kids at Domino High?"

"Relax, it's only a sample of flu bug," Marik tried to comfort with no success, "Ok, maybe I promised I would get him a date with my sister."

Marik sighed and brought Ryo close, "Listen, Ryo."

"What?"

"I want you to promise me something."

"Yes, Marik?"

Marik was silent for a minute and then said, "Promise me you won't give yourself up to him or anything."

Ryo blushed a deep red. "Marik..."

"I admit it," Marik sighed in defeat and hung his head, "I'm possessive. I want you to be mine and mine alone."

Ryo stared at the blond for a moment before pulling his head up gently and kissing him. "I promise," he mumbled.

Ryo sat on his bed, pondering what to do.

"I'm such a moron," he said out loud. "I should have never left Ryo, I should have taken a chance. Then I wouldn't be in this mess. I would have never hurt Marik."

Ryo sighed and pouted. He couldn't just go and break up with Seto.

"I guess I'll have to try and get him to break up with me..."

Suddenly, Ryo's cell phone rang. It was the ring that meant it was Kaiba.

Ryo didn't want to answer it. He feared what Kaiba would want from him so late at night.

You moron, he's going to think you're avoiding him or with Marik or something. Pick it up! he thought to himself.

Ryo slowly picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Ryo, my darling." answered Seto's voice calmly.

"Oh, um, hi, Seto."

"Ryo darling, I want to ask you something."

Ryo grew tense and nervous. Did he know? Did he know that Ryo had kissed Marik, his sworn rival? Did he know that Marik had bribed his underling to poison him?

"Yes, Seto?" he asked, the phone shaking in his sweaty palm.

"Do you mind if you come over and take care of me for the weekend?" asked Seto.

Ryo was relieved. "Sure, n-no problem." he answered before quickly saying, "I love you," and hanging up. That was close.

Ryo sighed. Kaiba had wanted him to dress in a light pink nurse's outfit, complete with tight top and short mini skirt.

"Guys are not supposed to wear nurses' outfits." he mumbled as he tried to pull the pink miniskirt of the outfit down.

"Ryo baby, c'mere!" he heard Seto yell from his bedroom. Ryo sighed and answered.

"Yes?" he tried to answer with a smile.

Seto made a "come here" motion with his index finger. "Come here."

Ryo came to his bedside. "Yes?"

Seto grabbed Ryo's wrist and pulled him onto his lap. "Ryo," he cooed.

Ryo tried to say, "Seto, what are you doing?" but a finger was put over his lips to quiet him.

"I'm really bored," he mumbled, grabbing Ryo's hips. "Maybe you could entertain me..."

Kaiba leaned in for a kiss. Ryo tried to fight back, but failed and submitted.

At first, it was a soft, gentle kiss that lured Ryo in.

After a couple of moments of this, Seto gripped Ryo's sides and switched so that he was on top and deepened the kiss.

Ryo seemed to forget his promise. His promise that he wouldn't go this far with Seto. He didn't care. Consequences could come later, he just wanted to be back in heaven.

_That Monday..._

Ryo hummed happily as he put his homework into his backpack, ready to leave for home.

As he shut his locker door, he was greeted by a cold, "Hello, Ryo," from Marik.

"Oh, hi, Marik," Ryo said happily before noticing the cold stare in Marik's purple eyes.

Marik grabbed Ryo's wrist and started to drag him though the crowded halls, towards the gym.

"Ryo, we need to talk."


	6. Chapter 6

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Six**

**Rocky Waters**

As they went down the ramp into the gym, Marik forced Ryo to sit down. He stood in front of him, purple eyes glaring and arms crossed.

"Ryo, how could you?" he asked. "How could you do this to me?"

"Do what, Marik?"

"You know what you did! You broke your promise Ryo!"

Ryo was taken back, How did he find out about what he had done with Seto?

"Yeah, that's right," Marik growled, "You should tell your boyfriend to stop bragging about how you made out with him willingly."

Ryo grabbed at Marik's hands. "Marik, please, I can explain..."

Marik swatted Ryo's hands away and yelled, "Don't you touch me!" before turning around and walking away while saying, "Just leave me alone, Ryo. We can both pretend like this never happened."

Ryo felt his tears and emotions overpower him. he got up and quickly grabbed Marik in a hug from behind.

"Marik, please don't leave me! I love you!" he yelled before sobbing into Marik's shoulder.

Marik's glare stayed as cold as a harsh Winter morning. He broke out of Ryo's grasp and swiftly left, leaving Ryo to break down in bitter tears alone.

After about a half hour, Ryo had pulled himself together and left. He happened to pass the Kame Game Shop on his way home. Was he really heading home? He didn't know. He head was pounding, his heart now a mirror broken into thousands of shards by the cruel hammer of lust.

"Ryo?" he heard someone call. He ignored it. He didn't want to hear anyone's voice right now, except Marik's.

He felt someone grab him and turn him around. It was Tea and Joey.

"Hey, Bakura, you alright?" Joey asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, you acted like we didn't exist," added Tea.

"I'm sorry, guys," Ryo mumbled, "I've just been having a horrible day,"

Tea and Joey's faces turned from worried to serious. They seemed to immediately understand what he meant, pulling him into the game shop.

"Ryo!" exclaimed Yugi, seeing his friend in horrible condition. Solomon and Atem quickly pulled up a chair for Ryo to sit in.

Tea sweetly touched Ryo's shoulder. "What happened between you two?"

Ryo was silent for a minute and then mumbled, "He found out I broke my promise to him."

"Promise?" questioned Atem.

"I promised I wouldn't go too far with Seto. Seto had the flu and had me take care of him and..." Ryo said, trailing off.

"Go on..." coaxed Solomon.

"and he lured me into it. It was just a heavy make out session, but it still apparently broke my promise,"

Ryo felt his tears start again. "Marik!" he cried before breaking down.

Yugi hugged Ryo while Joey patted his back. Ryo sobbed, "I'm so sorry," into Yugi's shoulder while embracing him.

Later on, Ryo sat up in Yugi's bedroom.

He heard the door opening, but didn't care who it was.

"Ryo?" he heard Atem say, "May I speak to you?"

"Go ahead," mumbled Ryo, moving over to that Atem could sit down.

"Listen, Ryo, I know you're going through a rough time. Young love is always full of ups and downs that we aren't prepared for."

"I don't care," mumbled Ryo,"

Atem planted a hand firmly on Ryo's shoulder. "Listen, if you want him back, you're going to have to make a bold move to prove it was just a mistake. A mistake you've learned from."

"You mean I have to..?"

"Yes," said Atem, somewhat grimly, "You have to leave Seto."

"But Atem! He'll publish our relationship in the school paper and our lives at Domino High, maybe even in Domino City, will be ruined!"

"Yes, I know, but Ryo," his voice was louder and more serious now. "If you love him, you'll take that risk. That's the only way you can get him back, Ryo."

"I know, but-"

They were interrupted by the door creaking open.

"Don't you worry, Ryo," said Tea confidently.

"We'll back you up 100% of the way, Bakura!" Joey finished.

Ryo looked at the group with wide eyes before feeling Atem grip his shoulder tighter. Atem nodded at Ryo.

Marik sighed as he plopped his bag and himself onto the couch.

"Something wrong, Marik?" asked Odion, who was sitting in recliner next to the couch.

"No, Odion," Marik mumbled, leaning his head back. Life was just so peachy-frigging-keen.

Marik sighed and opened his backpack to get his homework.

Accidentally, he pulled out Ryo's notebook.

"Huh?" he mumbled. "Oh, that's right, I still never gave it back..."

He turned it to the last page that had been written in, the day Marik had found the notebook.

He smiled, sweetly remembering admitting his love for Ryo, their first kiss, and the Halloween festival.

His smile vanished. The Halloween festival. That night, Seto Kaiba decided to blackmail them, causing Marik to lose Ryo, his only ray of sunshine.

Seto. The name had nothing but pure evil attached to it in Marik's mind. He took Ryo away. He wanted him to pay. He wanted him to pay.

"I can see you want him back, don't you, Marik?" asked Ishizu, walking up behind the couch with Odion and Mai Valentine.

Marik turned around and looked at the trio in shock.

"Marik, even though if you took Ryo back, it would risk your life at Domino High, maybe even our lives here in Domino City, we all want you to go for it," said Odion, touching Marik's shoulder.

Mai stepped in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. "Marik sweetie, you know we'll be here for you to support you and Ryo the whole way."

_The next day..._

Ryo sighed as he sat in his empty classroom during lunch hour. It used to be the usual thing he did, but now, it felt so odd.

Suddenly, he noticed a person standing next to him. It was Marik.

Ryo got out of his seat and embraced him.

Marik sighed happily before saying, "Are you ready, Ryo? This is a big mountain we're going to climb."

Ryo nodded. "Yes, I'm ready, Marik. I'm ready for whatever Seto and the school can throw at us."


	7. Chapter 7

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Seven**

**Facing the Chess Master**

Ryo sighed as he stared down at the note he was writing to Seto. He was nervous to be facing someone so powerful such as Seto, but he had to do it if he truly wanted to be with Marik, which he did.

He sighed and silently read over the note one last time.

Dear Seto,

There is something important that I must speak with you about. Meet me at the gym tomorrow after school. I promise it's nothing bad.

Love,

R. Bakura.

He stared at his signature. So this is it, he thought to himself, I'm going to be risking my school career all for one boyfriend. Is this really worth it?

Before he could answer his own question, the bell rang, meaning that the day was over. He folded the note, gathered his things, and walked out without a sound.

As he walked to his locker, he passed Seto's.

He stared at the piece of folded-up paper held between his index and middle fingers. He glanced back up to the locker before slipping the note into the locker via the air vents on the locker door.

As he walked away, he stared at his feet.

"I don't care what you do to me, Seto Kaiba. I want to be with Marik, and only Marik."

As he exited the school, he saw that Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea were standing at the flag pole, waiting for him.

As he approached them, Yugi asked, "Did you give it to him?"

Ryo nodded. "Yep. Are you ready?"

"Depends, are you?" asked Joey.

Ryo didn't answered for a minute, looking down in thought.

Am I really ready? Am I really ready to risk everything for one little love?

His heart answered for him. He looked up confidently and said, "Yes."

The rest of today slowly went by. The same nervousness and fear was still in Ryo's mind, but he had to do it. He just had to.

_The next day..._

Ryo stared down the long ramp that led down to the gym. It was time. It was really time.

He swallowed his nervousness, hoping his stomach could keep it down long enough to pull him through this.

He walked down the ramp.

Inside, his friends and Marik were waiting for him.

"Hey, you," mumbled Marik as he hugged and kissed his love.

Ryo could only mumble out a small, "Hey." He could tell that Marik and everyone around him shared the same nervousness deep down. They all hid it with confidence, and Ryo tired to do the same.

Soon, they heard footsteps coming down the ramp. It was him. The chess master, the one who had made Ryo and Marik's hearts his pawns, was coming.

Ryo started to grow nervous, but Marik's hand grabbed his quickly to calm him and Atem's hand went to his shoulder. He glanced at them both. Both had the same message in their eyes.

Please, Ryo. Don't be afraid...

Ryo swallowed his nervousness back down and he looked up in pride. He was ready

As soon as Seto walked in, his mouth went open in shock. "Ryo! What is this?"

"Seto, I can't take this anymore," growled Ryo, his heart talking over his mouth. "You blackmailed us into becoming your pawns. Well, we won't back down! I don't care what you do to us, we won't leave each other!"

Seto stared in shock, glancing at all the faces challenging him. All of them had the same expression, one of no fear, one that knew they were going to win.

Seto turned around and walked away silently.

Ryo stared in shock. He had done it. He had faced the chess master, the dragon, and won! He wanted to cheer and scream and kiss Marik out of excitement.

And he kept that feeling.

Until the next day when he and Marik strolled into school together.

The entire school seemed to be crowded around the news board.

As Marik and Ryo went up to see what the commotion was, one of Marik's friends turned to him, calling his name.

"Yeah, what is it?" Marik asked loudly as he and Ryo walked through the crowd, who had know made a line for the two of them.

"Marik," his friend asked, "what is this?"

At first, Marik was confused, but then he looked at the board.

The front cover of the newspaper was the picture of Marik and Ryo making out at the Halloween festival.

Marik and Ryo starred in shock.

Then, they heard the sound of evil and insane laughter behind them

The entire crowd, along with Ryo and Marik, turned their attention. It was Kaiba!"

"How does it feel to be the stars of the school paper?" he asked, trying not to break out in another evil laughing fit.

He had done it.

And now, they had to find a way out of another mess.

A mess that could be impossible to clean up.

**(Author's Notes)**

** Well, isn't this a short yet dramatic chapter? :3 Stay tuned!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Love's Notebook **

**Chapter Eight**

**Heads Held High Through the Storm**

Ryo and Marik stared in shock at the insanely-laughing brunette as he continued to laugh.

"Kaiba!" they heard someone yell. It was Joey, who ran up to Seto, planning to punch his lights out.

As he up next to Kaiba, he paused to wind his arm back and just as he was about to deliver a possibly lethal blow, his arm was grabbed by Tristan.

"What the hell are you doin' Joey?" Tristan yelled at his blond friend.

"I'm gonna clean his clock out for doing this to Bakura and Marik!" Joey yelled back in defense, struggling to get out of Tristan's grip, "Now lemme at 'im!"

"Joey, please!" yelled Ryo, close to tears now. His life was going to be ruined, but he still didn't believe violence was the answer. "It won't solve anything!"

Kaiba chuckled, "Yeah, you should listen to him, Wheeler. What good would striking me down do?"

Joey broke free of Tristan's grasp and grabbed Kaiba by the front of his shirt. "Kaiba, you son of a bitch! Give me one good reason I shouldn't knock your teeth out right here and now!"

Kaiba slapped Joey, sending him on his back. Everyone looked at him in shock. Nobody knew that he was actually strong enough to bring down Joey Wheeler, of all people, in one blow.

He smiled sadistically. "Because that'll send you straight back to the dog pound!"

"Alright, order! I demand there be order on my school grounds!" yelled the principal, walking out into the school yard with a few of the teachers by his side.

Everyone stared in shock. They knew trouble was bound to happen now.

"Maurice, take Mr. Wheeler to the office and call his parole officer." the principal commanded to a tall, somewhat tan teacher standing next to him. He teacher nodded and grabbed Joey by the shoulder and took him away into the school.

Ryo's emotions took the handlebars again. He ran up to the principal, grabbing the small man by the shoulders. "Sir, please!" he begged, "Don't do this to him! He's only defending us!"

Kaiba laughed again. "You shouldn't be so worried about him, Ryo. If I were you, I'd be worried about what big bad Seto would do you and your little boyfriend!"

The principal looked confused for a moment, his eyes resting on Seto.

"Oh yes. There has been a great misconduct against your school rules going on right beneath your nose, Mr. Makabura." Seto started to explain, "Mr. Bakura and Mr. Ishtar have been having a secret relationship, which is strictly against school policy."

All eyes turned to Ryo and Marik. The principal's tired blue eyes glanced at both boys for a minute before sighing. "Is this true?"

Ryo and Marik stared down in shame for a second before nodding their heads.

The principal did nothing. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by a, "Hold on, just wait a minute!" from Tea.

Everyone's attention turned to her.

"Seto, you've been doing the same thing!" she yelled accusingly.

Seto smirked. "Really now?"

"Yeah! You blackmailed Ryo into going out with you. You've been doing the same thing, only worse!"

A few members of the crowd gasped, along with the teachers and the principal. This whole thing was started to turn into a dramatic court room circus.

Seto flinched a little. She had him beat. "Hmph, so what are you gonna do about it? I can just bribe the principal to let me off scott free!" he countered, smirking. "I don't think I can say the same for our two lovebirds, though."

Tea growled at the tall brunette. He thought he could get away with ruining two peoples lives with a bit of green paper? The bastard!

Marik nervously walked up to Ryo, grabbing his hand. If they were going to go down, they wanted to go down together.

The principal glanced back and forth between the two parties, then sighed and said, "Damn me for saying this, but Seto's right. Relationships are strictly against school policy. I'm sorry, Ryo, Marik, but I'm afraid I have to-"

"Stop that thought, Mr. Makabura!" yelled a strong voice. The crowd attention turned once again. It was Atem, along with Yugi, Odion, Ishizu, and Mai.

The group strided towards the two young lovers and surrounded them. They turned towards the principal and his posse of teachers.

"Mr. Makabura, please listen to reason. Why are you doing everything in your power to stop young love from blooming? Sure, high school may be too young to believe you can truly love someone, but there are those who are mature enough to handle it! Marik and Ryo are two of those people, they just haven't been given the chance. Please, Makabura!"

The principal stared at the tall Egyptian. He had a point. "I'm sorry, Mr. Muto, but rules are rules and I have to enforce them," he mumbled sadly.

"Hold on a second!" yelled an unfamiliar voice. It was one of Marik's friends. He, along with some of Marik's other friends. Walked up and joined the small group forming.

"Sir, if they have broken the school rules, then what about Kaiba? He has committed not only the same act, but also blackmailed other students and confessed that he would bribe his out of this! What are you going to do about him, hm?"

The principal stared. "I can see your point." He motioned his head to two other teachers. "Please, go get Mr. Kaiba, this is something serious."

The teachers quickly did as they were told, but Seto, not willing to get in huge trouble, bolted. The rest of the teachers joined the chase.

All that was left standing between Ryo and Marik's decision between expulsion and freedom was one man. One short, old man.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I sadly also have to enforce the rules upon you two. I for one despise our schools rules on relationships with a passion, but I'm not the one who makes the rules, I only enforce them."

Odion grabbed Marik's shoulder and Ishizu stood at her little brother's side. "Sir, we understand what you're saying, but we will still fight back against this as one!" she said bravely. This surprised Marik. This was unlike her.

One of Marik's friends, a tall black-haired boy, seemed to strongly agree with Ishuzu. He turned around and yelled out to the crowd, "Who's with us? Who wants to defend our fellow good students from expulsion?"

The crowd was silent for a few long-lasting moments. But then, a single student walked out of the crowd towards the small group of defenders. A few more brave souls followed.

Soon, the entire school was standing against the principal, against the law.

"Now, Mr. Makabura," said Odion. "Are you still willing to stand up for a decision nobody else agrees with?" The crown cheered after his words.

The principal sighed and smiled. "I know when I'm beat. Alright, have it your way."

The crowd cheered in delight. Marik hugged his love in happiness. They had won! They had truly won!

"But," interrupted the principal, "I would like to see Mr. Ishtar and Mr. Bakura in my office for a moment."

The crowd went silent and turned their eyes to Ryo and Marik.

Ryo was nervous, but Marik grabbed him by the hand and looked at him with his strong purple eyes. Ryo nodded, and together, they left with the principal to his office, leaving everyone to hold their breath.

As they arrived in the principal's office, he motioned for them to sit down.

Ryo and Marik held their breath nervously as the principal stood in front of them with his back turned to them, neither speaking a word.

After a moment, the principal turned around and went up to the two boys. "Ryo, Marik," he mumbled.

"Yes?" they asked in unison.

He grabbed one of Ryo's hands and one of Marik's hands, putting them together in his old wrinkled hands. "Can you promise me something?"

Neither boy spoke, curious.

"I want you to promise me that no matter what anyone says or does about your love, that you never stop loving each other. Too many times in this society have I seen people been discriminated against for their sexual preferences. Too many times I have seen people crumble under the hate. Too many times I have seen some great souls lost for a stupid reason. Too many times I have seen society unwilling to accept others for their differences. I want you two to take a stand against that. Not just for yourselves, but for the people you're now a part of. Can you grant an old man that wish?"

Ryo and Marik stared at the old man. He almost had tears in his deep blue eyes.

They nodded. "Yes," mumbled Ryo.

The two stepped out of the school and onto the steps. Everyone was waiting for them.

Bravely, they took each other's hand and walked down the school steps together. Many eyes stared at them in amazement

Ryo looked shyly at Marik, who only responded with a sweet kiss. The crowd cheered in happiness.

As they stared lovingly into each others eyes, they heard someone shout, "Yo, Bakura! Marik!" It was Joey, who was in handcuffs, running towards them with a couple of cops on his tail.

"Joey!" Ryo shouted in happiness as his blond New Yorker friend came up to them.

"Looks like I screwed up big time, I'm going to jail," Joey mumbled.

Ryo looked shocked. "What? Why? You did nothing wrong, you only defended us!"

Joey flinched, "Yeah but that ain't gonna stop ol' Kaiba from claiming I assaulted him."

Ryo hugged Joey, sniveling and burying his face in Joey's chest. "Joey..." he mumbled, close to tears.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You just worry about you and your boyfriend, ok?"

Ryo looked up at Joey with his big, brown eyes.

Before he could say anything, the two cops caught up and dragged Joey away. Even though he was going to jail, he still smiled a big dumb smile.

Ryo couldn't handle it. Tears flowed from his eyes. He shouted with all his heart, "I promise Joey! I promise!"

Joey still had that smile as he was put into the cop car. Joey still had that smile as it drove away.

Ryo broke down into his lover's arms.

"Shush, Ryo, he'll be ok," comforted Marik, stroking his hair.

"I...I know." whimpered Ryo.

After a moment his tears dried.

The crowd looked at the pair, waiting for some big speech. Neither of them spoke a word, they only glanced up at the sun, which was hidden by clouds that slowly moved away.

"I promise, Mr. Makabura. I promise, Joey. I won't fail you..." mumbled Ryo.

**(Author's Notes)**

** Awwww, isn't this a lovely ending to the story? :3 Well, I hope you enjoyed this story! **

** So, what did you think about the story? Was it good, bad, so-so? I wanna hear your opinions, I love opinions!**

** Also, I might be planning a sequel. Who wants one?**

** With much love**

** Abby, a.k.a, Dot Sensei**


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